Igniting Your Christian Life

Paul says, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, generations without end. Amen. I’ve been trying to tell you, in the last couple of weeks, that this is one of the richest and most significant of all of the passages of the Word of God. It is a passage that’s filled with transforming truth. It’s one of those key points in the New Testament, one of those vital areas that really tells you how to get information out of your head and into your living.

And as we’ve been looking at it, I think the Spirit of God has been really reinforcing this to us. And I was thinking this week, as I was mulling over in my mind how we might approach this text again, that we forget sometimes what an incredible treasure we have in the Word of God. These kinds of passages particularly that show us how to really live life to the fullest are such a legacy from the Holy Spirit, that we do well to remind ourselves of their richness. Psalm 119. To know that you are wiser than our enemies, that you have more understanding than your teachers, that you have more understanding than those ancients who have gone before.

To realize that we are the informed people of the world. We are the ones who have the truth. What an incredible, wonderful thought. I can tell you that if you study the Word of God, and if you plumb the depths of the Word of God, you’re going to get your heart blessed, your bell rung, and your fire lit. It can’t help but happen. I’ve never had an occasion to study the Word of God, and to really drink it in, and to really absorb it, without being thrilled. And I guess maybe the problem with a lot of Christians is that they don’t really drink the Word, they just kind of gargle it, and somehow they spit it out, and it never gets inside to make a difference.

Thomas Edison said on one occasion, we don’t know one millionth of one percent about anything. Thomas Edison. Mark Twain added, but the trouble with the world is not that people know so little, but the things they do know ain’t so. Now that’s a pretty bad thing not to know one millionth of one percent of anything, and the thing you do know ain’t so. But that’s what it would be like to live in the world apart from the revelation of God. Right? We are the informed. You see, we rise above ignorance, we rise above misinformation, we are wiser than our enemies, we are more understanding than our teachers, we are more understanding than the ancients of the past, because we have the treasure of the Word of God.

But listen, with privilege always comes what? Responsibility. And it’s not enough to gargle the Word of God on Sunday morning and spit it out as you get in your car. You need to drink it in. It ought to change your life. God has given us his revelation. It is an inestimable privilege. It is an unsearchable treasury. Look at Ephesians 1. This seems to be a major theme in Ephesians. It says in verse 8 that God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will.

What an incredible thing that God should make known to us the mystery of his will. That he, as Jesus said, should reveal these things to babes and hide them from the wise of the world. Chapter 1 verse 17. Paul prays that we would have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened, that we would know what is the hope of his calling, what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe.

We have this tremendous knowledge, and Paul prays that we would take advantage of the opportunity that it affords. In chapter 3, you have it again. Verse 8. Paul says that God has called him to be used as a preacher to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. And verse 11 says that we literally know the eternal purpose which God purposed in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Beloved, you hold in your hand in that little book that you have, the Holy Bible, the Word of God, the greatest, most incredible gift that God could ever give a man. And it’s up to you to drink it in, to take it in, to use it, to make it a part of your life, to make it a part of every element of your thinking. Jeremiah said in chapter 15 and verse 16 of his great prophecy, Because I’m called by you, because I know you, because we have this intimacy together, your word is my food, my joy, my rejoicing.

In Job 23 and verse 12, Job says, In Psalm 1, the righteous man is described in this way, but his delight is in the law of God, and in his law doth he meditate, what, day and night. In Psalm 119 and 167, My soul hath kept thy testimonies, I love them exceedingly, said David. And he said in the 19th Psalm, More to be desired are they than gold, ye than much fine gold, and sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. God has given us his word, people. God has given us this tremendous resource, tremendous sweet and rich treasure that is to be taken in and feasted upon.

And as we have been studying Ephesians, we must have been reminded of what a feasted is. All of these things that God has given us are reinforced, revealed, impressed on us by the Apostle Paul in here in verses 14 to 21. Having given us some great truth, he prays that we will drink it, not garble it, that we would absorb it, not put it off, that we would really operate on our knowledge. I told you before, I just reinforce it by saying it again, that the greatest problem in the ministry as I see it, the most anxiety, the greatest heartache comes when people live lives that don’t match what they know.

That’s a heartache. You know, we ought to be able to live up to what we know. We ought to be able to live up to what we understand. We ought to be able to take this knowledge and make it part of our life. And here’s how, here’s the way. 3 14 to 21 of Ephesians tells us how. This is how to get your Christianity functioning. This is how to take the resource and the power and make it operative. And we said there are five sequential steps. Inner strength, indwelling Christ, incomprehensible love, infinite fullness, and internal power.

And Paul prays that we would have these, and they are connected, as I’ve told you, by a little Greek word hena, which means in order that, so that one leads to another. Do this in order that this may happen, in order that this may happen, in order that this may happen, and so it goes. Thank you for joining us in this exploration on Igniting Your Christian Life. Until next time, remember to keep the faith, stay strong, and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread, please log on to goddessgovernment.com.

Goodbye, and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].